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Description
| Manufacturer: | Martin |
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| Base model: | B-51 | ||
| Designation: | XB-51 | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | ||
| Designation Period: | 1924-Present | ||
| Basic role: | Bomber | ||
| Status: | Experimental | ||
| See Also: | |||
Specifications
| Not Yet Available |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Jack L Gilbert Rio Rancho, NM | The rotary bomb bay door developed for the XB-51 was used by Martin on the B-57. It allowed the ordnance to be pre-loaded on the door assy. and then the whole unit would be up-loaded onto the aircraft prior to launch. Also, one of the reported reasons for not accepting the XB-51 for service was a concern that the two fuselage-mounted engines were succeptable to FOD. Curiously, the B-57 was accepted and there was no such concern voiced over its engines. 02/09/2009 @ 08:28 [ref: 23675] |
| Steve Bogdan Cheltenham, PA | If you talk to some of the locals at the Martin Museum in Middle River, they'll tell you that: 1.) Glenn L. made a boat load of enemies over the B-36 scuttlebutt; 2.) George Bunker, who succeeded Martin to the helm of the Marin Airplane Co., allegedly had an affair with a certain Congressman's wife. The Congressman, naturally, became a sworn enemy of anything Martin and very effectively "torpedoed" all things Martin in committee.
Further, if you look at a Lockheed C-5, it is an absolute crib of the proposed Martin Sea Mistress, (sans landing gear), which was to be the follow-on to the P6M Seamaster. It is an national shame that the Lockheed P3 Orion (which is still in service) was selected over the P6M Seamaster. My own theories are as follows: 1.) Martin executives were plain stupid when it came to marketing the planes. Had Martin subcontracted the aircraft systems into the 48 States, costs would have soared. Yet, no Congressman would have vetoed any project which employed his constituents. For example, the Rockwell B-1 design dates back to the Eisenhower administration. Jimmy Carter killed the project. Yet, it was subcontracted into 48 States which Ronald Reagan used to effectively "pay off" political favors for his election. (Incidentally, Dutch Kindleberger of North American Aviation, got his start with Glenn L. Martin. Rockwell Corporation was the successor company which absorbed North American Aviation.) 2.) The aircraft were far too versatile. The P6M, when modified for specific mission capabilities, could have, for example, fulfilled the missions of the C-141, E3A AWACS, E6B Prowler, S3A Viking, B-52, and in certain applications, the C-130. The lobbyists for the manufacturers all ganged up on it seeing its enormous potential. The technical advances which these two aircraft embodied far outweighed their costs. The advent of boron and graphite epoxy advanced airframe materials would have widened the technical advantages which both of these aircraft embodied. How tragic that a generation of pilots was denied the best equipment. 01/28/2008 @ 20:51 [ref: 19454] |
| Pete Fresno, CA | The movie was "Towards the Unknown" with William Holden and Llyod Nolan. It was an excellent movie, and the XB-51 was cast as the Gilbert XF-120, an aircraft being tested at Edwards AFB in California. One of my most favorite aircraft. 12/26/2007 @ 16:32 [ref: 19059] |
| Bob Herbert , SC | I remember seeing the b51 in that movie, I have heard that it made one more appearence in a film but I do not remember the title of it, it was low budget so martin was trying to recoupe some of hi losses this way. I doubt Convair gave them a dime for using the pod system on the B-58. Sadly the B-51 was a lot of shoulda, coulda, woulda, it might have been a great plane with some teething time under its belt but, not in those days and after some others stopped dropping into farmers fields b45s,b47,and b52s( hey I saw them haul out the hulk) they settled down to the mundane chores of being a bomber in the USAF 10/31/2006 @ 22:51 [ref: 14624] |
| Bob Herbert , SC | I remember seeing the b51 in that movie, I have heard that it made one more appearence in a film but I do not remember the title of it, it was low budget so martin was trying to recoupe some of hi losses this way. I doubt Convair gave them a dime for using the pod system on the B-58. Sadly the B-51 was a lot of shoulda, coulda, woulda, it might have been a great plane with some teething time under its belt but, not in those days and after some others stopped dropping into farmers fields b45s,b47,and b52s( hey I saw them haul out the hulk) they settled down to the mundane chores of being a bomber in the USAF 10/31/2006 @ 22:51 [ref: 14623] |
| Bob Davis Little Rock, AR | I was crew chief on xb-51 in 1955,this aircraft was ahead of its time 06/11/2006 @ 15:55 [ref: 13499] |
| Garren Dilley lancaster, OH | all of these plains on here suck ass and i dont want anyone else to see this because this shit sucks so bad. i wish u never came up with this web site. 687-I'll jack u off 04/13/2006 @ 18:45 [ref: 13151] |
| Austin Kern , OH | this plane sucks and it is the gayest thing i have ever seen 04/10/2006 @ 07:47 [ref: 13106] |
| dave , ME | i hear tom cruise has one of these 03/12/2006 @ 14:56 [ref: 12779] |
| dan purrington new orleans, LA | I saw the first flight of the XB-51 at Martin Field in Baltimore when I was a teenager. It was a beautiful, advanced airplane. I also watched the Canberra, later to manufactured by Martin as the B-57, perform "aerobatics" there.
dan purrington 01/02/2006 @ 13:56 [ref: 12070] |
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